UGC Bordeaux Tasting

Boston
Tasted Wednesday, January 26, 2011 by hutch with 1,615 views

Introduction

The tasting was held at the Boston Harbor Hotel on Rowe's Wharf. The weather was not that great, which led to the event being much less crowded, and afforded us more time and room to try the wines. We tried the right bank wines 1st, then moved to the left bank based more on the position of the tables then on what would be the proper order. From our perspective, the right bank wines shown brightest, and there few wines that didn't impress us from Saint-Emilion or Pomerol.

Flight 1 - Pomerol (5 Notes)

There weren't many Pomerol producers present, but the wines showed very well. It's likely some of these scores would have been bumped up a point but these were the first wines I tried so might have been a little rough.

Flight 2 - Saint Emilion (17 Notes)

Very well represented, and the wines showed fantastically. The Franc Mayne and Figeac are the only ones that I wouldn't recommend, not taking price into consideration. Really, there's four wines here that I would consider for the top five of the tasting.

  • 2008 Château Angélus 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Big, rich, prefumey nose. Soft, and a sense of elegance and a delicate note, and then the oak and richness rolls in. A great wine, but not at the top level that this can reach. 92-94

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  • 2008 Château Beau-Séjour Bécot 89 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Pretty nose. Rich and oaky. Nice. A little clipped on the finish. 88-90

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  • 2008 Château Berliquet 90 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Muted aromatics. Medium bodied. More restrained, and softer then most of the other Saint-Emillions. Nice though, and the price is decent. 89-91

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  • 2008 Château Canon 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Balanced. Cooler fruit. Refined. I really like the elegance and balance with this wine. Already drinking wonderfully. 92-94

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  • 2008 Château Canon-la-Gaffelière 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    This was a candidate for wine of the tasting. Big and rich, but the fruit is cool and fresh. Nice. Refined and superbly balanced. great finish that is haunting in it's length and evocativeness. 92-95

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  • 2008 Château Dassault 91 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Cool fresh fruit. Tasty, and a good value. Great finish. 91-93

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  • 2008 Château Figeac 88 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    ripe, but it's balanced. Seems a little simple. This is fine, but I was a little disappointed. 88-90

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  • 2008 Clos Fourtet 90 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Red fruits. Tannic. This needs some time. Great, minerally finish. I might be low, as this could blossom with a few years. 88-90

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  • 2008 Château Franc-Mayne 87 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Meatier wine. A little riper then some of the others, as well. Lighter bodied, doesn't have that richness, the sexiness. Still nice, just different. 87-89

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  • 2008 Château Grand Mayne 90 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Richer and meatier wine. Some guts to this. Quite nice. 89-91

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  • 2008 Château La Couspaude 91 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Ripe nose. Good fruit. Smooth, and drinking really well right now. This is excellent. 90-92

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  • 2008 Château La Dominique 91 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Medium nose. Ripe, but balanced. Less oak then some of the others. 90-92

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  • 2008 Château La Gaffelière 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Rich, soft palate. Just delicious stuff. This is probably in my top 5 of the tasting. 92-94

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  • 2008 Château Larcis Ducasse 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Rich and lots of fruit on the nose. Modern styled. Full bodied, almost Napaesque. Amazing finish that's all Bordeaux, though. Earth and minerals there. 91-93, but this is one that will probably find many people going lower or higher then that score.

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  • 2008 Château Larmande 91 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Med+ body. Rich, pencilly stuff going on. Nice, but a little different then the others. Would have probably thought it was left bank. 90-92

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  • 2008 Château Pavie Macquin 90 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Big, rich nose. Really concentrated. This one went a little over the top for me. Not my style, but my objective score would be 90-92 because it is really well made, and with great fruit.

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  • 2008 Château Troplong Mondot 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Dark and inky. Big, perfumey, showy nose. Rich and dense. Full bodied wine. Oaky, chocolate, mocha notes. Awesome finish. Not sure, this is really toeing the wine of overdoing it for me, but it seems to work, in the sense that it's pretty delicious and you want to go back for another sip. 92-94

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Flight 3 - Graves, Pessac-Leognan (14 Notes)

Tried these wines, and wasn't really able to give them the attention I might have wished. However, the prices of most of the whites keep me from usually having a lot of interest.

Flight 4 - Margaux (13 Notes)

This seemed like the strongest region on the left bank during the tasting, but that might have something to do with the fact that there were so many wines from there. The wines did stand out, but the wines from St. Julien were probably more consistently good, while Margaux tended to have more highs and lows.

Flight 5 - Saint Julien (9 Notes)

These wines showed really well, and would be the region in the left bank I would most likely buy blindly on.

Flight 6 - Pauillac (9 Notes)

Some really nice wines, but quite a few disappointments as well.

Flight 7 - Saint-Estephe (5 Notes)

Only five wines from this region, and none of them wowed me. This is the region I'd be the most cautious about.

Flight 8 - Everything Else (11 Notes)

This is where I hoped to find values, but there aren't a whole lot to be found, with some exceptions.

Closing

Overall, my top five would have to be: Clinet, Canon, Canon La Gaffeliere, Leoville Poyferre, and Pichon Baron

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